It was the moment.
The silence didn't feel empty.
It felt like the whole forest had paused, waiting for the next crack to appear.
Grivvin's head remained bowed. As if it had been waiting for me long before I ever stepped here.
The ground beneath my palms pulsed once. A soft, warm beat pushed up through the mud and into my skin.
Mira screamed my name again, but it sounded far away.
Her voice wavered, thin and stretched like it was trying to reach me through water.
The ground shifted under my knees, breathing with me, for me, around me.
I could feel it now.
Neither dragging me or forcing me.
Waiting for what I would choose.
Mira stumbled toward me, slipping in the mud, dirt streaked across her face, desperation burning in her eyes.
'Vehan! Please look at me!"
Her voice shook.
"I'm right here. Stay with me...
Please stay with me."
I tried.
I really tried!
But the world... moved out of the way.
Trees blurred into silhouettes.
Fog thickened, folding in on itself.
Even the air grew heavy- dense enough to swallow sound.
Everything faded.
Everything- except the pulse climbing up my arms like a second heartbeat trying to find a place inside me.
The Grivvin lifted its head.
And for the first time.
It didn't twitch.
It didn't glitch.
It met my eyes.
Still, focused.
Alive in a way I had never seen.
Something deep inside me loosened.
And beneath it all, I felt the faintest whisper of a feeling:
"It begins."
I could feel a strange kind of warmth spread through my body.
Strangely... It wasn't terrifying.
It wasn't unfamiliar.
And then... Images flooded my vision.
Not a dream.
My life!
"You're tired. Crrk... Stop running.
Let me in."
Hel... Help me... I tried to speak but nothing came out.
The next moment, all I knew was my heartbeat was completely in sync with the tree's pulse.
My vision was getting more blurry....
Am I going to die?
I stumbled and fell down at once.
The water. No, the mud... It feels soft.
It's embracing me....
"I wouldn't let you go."
It was Mira! She tried to grab my arm and pull me free.
But the ground rose violently trying to resist.
Even after that, Mira reached me and grabbed my hand.
"No! Leave me please. It burns! It burns!"
Maybe, the world didn't want her to interfere.
I felt hopeless.
"You're stronger than this!" Mira screamed.
"You can still stop this."
I could hear her but it sounded distant like a dream slipping.
"Now, listen to me. Listen to yourself. Crrk..."
Every moment hit at once...
• Helping others, forcing smiles just to get validation.
• Feeling lonely even after people's praise.
• Raghav...every moment when I hurt him.
• Ayan's slap.
• Her brother who was trying to protect me.
"Every time you broke. I grew. Crrk..."
It was Grivvin! Mirroring each moment with emotional clarity which I never realised.
I always tried to help everyone, make everyone happy, be a perfectionist but I just forgot I was there too.
I forgot to be good in my own eyes.... I forgot to be myself.
I just realised it has grown and darker, maybe more in pain.
"I took the shape and grew every time you buried your emotions. Crrk..."
"I'm your part only. The part, the emotions you always neglected."
"Please accept me... I want to protect you."
I finally realised everything.
Either, I'm going to end up like everyone else or I'm going to survive but it's not gonna be the same.
It's too late... to return to normal.
"Vehan!" Mira screamed, terrified.
"I wouldn't resist anymore." I whispered. "I'm tired."
The ground responded.
Veins rose from the mud like hands, wrapping around my wrists.
A black-red glow crawled across my skin.
The Grivvin touched the ground slowly and the emotional flood hits:
guilt, anger, loneliness, resentment,
longing, helplessness.
All at once.
It felt like the sensations were getting merged.
Like a part of me was pulled out- softness, innocence or fear.
I didn't scream... I accepted it.
--Mira's POV--
No... I can't lose him too.
The Grivvin's form blurred, dissolving into the darkness.
It wasn't directly possessing him but slowly sewing its threads into his body.
"What's happening here? It's a bit different from what happened to my brother."
"Vehan!" I cried, reaching for him.
"Take my hand... Please!"
I was so desperate to protect him at that moment.
I was crying, begging to this doomed world but it felt like someone took my hand gently and separated him from me.
Suddenly, it all went silent.
Vehan's body jerked once- like something had settled.
The ground stopped glowing.
And the Grivvin collapsed into nothing but dust and mist.
I was shocked and relieved at the same time.
"Vehan! He was standing right in front of me; safe and sound."
But it was strange... It felt like the weight he was carrying had been replaced by something else.
---Vehan's POV---
A faint voice echoed inside me: "Breathe."
And boom! I was conscious again.
"Mira." I said softly. "I'm back."
Mira took a step back, horrified and confused.
"Vehan... What did you do?"
I didn't know how to answer.
"Don't worry, Mira. I'm fine."
But even as I said it.
I felt it.
My voice wasn't the same.